The social gaming service also plans to host sponsored events and hand out X-Coins which can be used to enter monthly prize sweepstakes. Later this month, Xfire will introduce this transactional ecosystem, and the virtual currency can also be purchased using PayPal, VISA, MasterCard and American Express.

Players will use X-Coin to challenge fellow gamers and compete in skill-based gaming for serious prizes. The more active the player is, the greater opportunity they have to win.

The service also contains a universal point system for games such as Battlefield 3, CS:GO, and more.

Battleground currently supports Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike: Source, with additional titles to be added regularly, including Call of Duty 2, Counter-Strike: Go, World of Tanks, Team Fortress 2, Planetside 2 and District 187.

The Battleground format comes with three primary modes for gamers: Instant Action, Direct Challenge and Tournaments.

Coming soon, players can challenge others using Direct Challenge, use Tournament mode to participate in sponsored tournaments from Xfire partners, and create and organize their own tournaments through a “full competitive product suite.”

The firm has also updated Xfire with its 2.0 client, along with a redesigned site and webpages for easier navigation, the addition of an editorial section highlighting popular news within the industry, and a digital storefront where users can redeem X-Coins.

Hit up the links for more information.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/05/xfire-launches-competitive-gaming-hub-called-battleground/feed/3Xfire users have spent over 1.3 billion hours in League of Legendshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/07/11/xfire-users-have-spent-over-1-3-billion-hours-in-league-of-legends/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/07/11/xfire-users-have-spent-over-1-3-billion-hours-in-league-of-legends/#commentsWed, 11 Jul 2012 20:30:28 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=276256Xfire has announced League of Legends is the most played PC title out of all games played using the service.

Users have clocked close to 1.3 billion hours in the MOBA from July 2011 to June 30, 2012, with World of Warcraft users clocked 622,378,909 hours and Minecraft players putting in 371,635,651 hours.

In comparison, players have logged over 2 billion hours in the entire Halo franchise over seven years of availability.

That’s a lot of gaming hours.

In other LoL news, Riot has released a full look at the concept art for its 101st champion, Zyra, who uses vegetation as a ranged weapon. Still no word on when to expect the champion’s release.

The data in the report obtained by GI.biz was collected in conjunction with Xfire user data from December 20 through February 20 and a January 2012 Xfire survey which saw over 4,000 participants.

One of the biggest features of Xfire is that it provides players the ability to track their gaming hours – the main reason we stopped using it as this depressed us a bit.

However, cataloging the many hours of your life you dump into games aside, the data compiled provides DFC and Xfire with important information on current trends in PC gaming and user preferences.

Based on this collected data, DFC is certain SWTOR can maintain one million paying subscribers who pay a sub-fee for over six months at a time.

“The current trend among large massively multiplayer online games is to have strong initial sales, after which users quickly lose interest and are not converted to long-term paying subscribers,” said the firm’s analyst Jeremy Miller.

“While early signs are fairly positive, over the next few months the plan is to closely monitor usage and consumer reaction to gauge how well Star Wars: The Old Republic performs over time.

“The next three to six months will be critical to determine if the game can attract a large and sustained paying subscriber base.”

DFC said its study is an “ongoing initiative” with the Xfire service, which the firm will use to better track core PC games.